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Natalie Barnes, an adjunct art professor at Colorado State University, talks to students during a writing exercise in her Art 100 class on Wednesday. / V. Richard Haro/The Coloradoan

Educator definitions

Tenure-track faculty: Generally professors, associate professors and assistant professors who must balance teaching, research and service. Includes those who have the highest degree in their field of study and are either striving for or have achieved tenure, which guarantees academic freedoms such as discussing contentious topics in class and researching contentious topics without fear of reprisal. Contrary to popular belief, tenure-track faculty can be fired; due-process is followed in such cases. Adjunct faculty: Also referred to as nontenure-track or contingent faculty. Of any rank from instructor to full professor. These employees are either part- or full-time, sometimes teaching four or five course sections each semester at a base pay. Some adjunct faculty are researchers only and don’t teach. Adjuncts are essentially at-will employees who can be dismissed at any time, which can constrain their exercise of academic freedom. They aren’t eligible for tenure. Graduate assistants: These are graduate students who may teach courses at the university. Other employees: Administrators such as deans, associate deans, chairs of departments, administrative professionals, including research scientists and state-classified employees.

Undergraduate credit hours taught by faculty type in 2011-12 school year

Total hours: 601,680 Tenure-track faculty: 246,527.6 (31 percent) Adjunct faculty: 244,383 (41 percent) Graduate assistants: 75,240.5 (12 percent) Other employees: 35,528.8 (6 percent) *Compare to other universities and colleges nationally among which an average of 75 percent of all faculty are off the tenure track, according to Maria Maisto with New Faculty Majority. Source: www.ir.colostate.edu

Right around 2004, adjunct faculty at Colorado State University say things hit a critical mass: They had no job security, no academic freedoms and were paid tens of thousands of dollars less than their tenure-track counterparts to educate students at all levels.

Today, university leaders say work remains to bridge the “inequity” in pay and work conditions between adjunct faculty and their tenure-track colleagues. But some believe awareness of the labor discrepancies and faculty collaboration with administrators have made a difference.

National experts also see CSU as “ a little bit unusual,” in that faculty at all levels, including President Tony Frank, are “very aware” of issues and have worked to make changes since discussions began eight years ago.

“It used to be pretty darn discouraging, but we’re making headway,” said Jo Ann Hedleston, an adjunct instructor who has taught in CSU’s philosophy department for 11 years and is a member of the College of Liberal Arts Adjunct Faculty Committee.

“We were out of sight and out of mind for most people,” she said. It used to be — and sometimes still is — “shameful” for most to identify themselves as a member of the adjunct faculty, what Hedleston called the “lower class.”

Hedleston won’t be “thoroughly satisfied” until “we at least become the middle class.”

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As state and federal funding for higher education has declined, U.S. colleges and universities have hired more adjunct faculty, said CSU’s Sue Doe, a former adjunct and current tenure-track professor who researches adjunct issues across the country. “It’s a cost-saver at so many levels.”

As hiring lesser-paid and sometimes part-time faculty moved from “strange aberration” to “general practice,” adjuncts took to classrooms more often, while tenure-track faculty felt increased pressure to seek grant-funded research opportunities — a major component of a state university’s mission. Adjuncts began to be the focus of more attention, as concern brewed among parents vetting their credentials.

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“It’s a legitimate question. Parents and tuition-paying custodians have the right — students have the right — to know, ‘Who’s my teacher?’ ” Doe said. “Is he or she qualified? Absolutely valid question.”

She added, however: “What’s become increasingly clear is that nontenure track are generally doing a pretty darn good job in the classroom and may be becoming, by default, the teaching faculty.”

Nationally, nontenure-track faculty make up about half of all faculty at four-year college and universities. That number rises to about 70 percent at two-year institutions, Doe said.

Doe pointed out that Colorado State is “well below” the U.S. average, but that its reliance on contingent faculty is “steadily rising.” In 2002-03, nontenure-track faculty represented 35 percent of total faculty and 39 percent this year, according to university Fact Book data.

While CSU’s tenure-track faculty ranks have grown by 5 percent since the 2002-03 academic year, its nontenure-track ranks grew by 24 percent over the same time.

While tenure-track faculty taught the bulk (53 percent) of CSU’s upper-level credit hours last year, adjunct faculty led the instruction of 41 percent of all undergraduate credit hours offered. As more classes are taught by nontenure-track faculty, Doe said it’s not unreasonable for tenure track faculty across the nation to question their value within a changing system.

No matter who is teaching, the issue is quality control, Frank, the CSU president, said in an email to the Coloradoan. He doubts the ratio of tenure-track to adjunct faculty will change dramatically going forward, but said administration has a responsibility to grow CSU’s tenure-track ranks as enrollment increases.

“Personally, I think having more than 1/3 of upper division taught outside tenure-track faculty is a place where we can improve,” Frank wrote.

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While she agrees tenure-track faculty are the “backbone” of higher education, Hedleston isn’t as certain that CSU will be able to cover an increase in six-figure salaries that such educators often demand. With a goal to grow student enrollment to 35,000 and budgetary constraints to consider, CSU will have to rely heavily on adjuncts — especially those in the humanities — she said, to teach core classes.

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So if CSU’s adjunct numbers grow — and even if they don’t — what do those affected believe needs to change?

In some cases, several adjunct faculty are crammed into one office, eliminating privacy to talk with students, said Maria Maisto, a leader of New Faculty Majority, an organization that advocates on behalf of adjuncts. Others travel to two, three and four universities and colleges to teach a full course load, said Natalie Barnes, an adjunct instructor in the CSU art department and member of the College of Liberal Arts Adjunct Faculty Committee.

Some at CSU — even those who have been with the university for years — don’t find out what they’re teaching until two or three weeks before the start of the semester, Barnes said. This is in line with a national New Faculty Majority survey that revealed 30 percent of contingent faculty were not getting their teaching assignments sooner than three weeks prior to the start of class — an inadequate amount of time to select textbooks and prepare lessons, Maisto said.

Compared to tenure-track professors — who, according to CSU data, make an average of $108,867 annually — nontenure-track faculty in the College of Liberal Arts make a base salary of about $4,100 to teach one, three-credit course in a semester. When four sections is considered full-time, that’s an annual salary of less than $33,000. Base salaries can sometimes double depending on department and demand.

Improving adjunct pay is something the university has worked toward over “some years,” Frank said, adding, “and I think we’re making some good progress.” With Frank’s commitment, adjuncts’ base salary compensation has risen, Doe said. But there’s room for improvement, Barnes and Hedleston agreed.

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Frank pointed out that, while teaching loads have increased, adjunct faculty don’t have the same rights and responsibilities of tenure — which is rewarded after “an exceptional level” of performance over a sustained time period. But there are still many “highly qualified,” “extremely effective” and “committed educators” who are adjuncts.

While CSU examines how to increase adjunct pay, there is a list of low- to no-cost measures to improve working conditions, Maisto said, that are favorable in the eyes of Barnes, Hedleston, Doe and Frank.

Enhanced academic freedom is critical, as is job stability. One thing that “helps some,” Doe said, is House Bill 1144, which authorizes higher education institutions to enter into contracts with nontenure-track employees. Colorado is behind other states in implementation of multiyear contracts, she said.

Looking forward, Hedleston and Barnes want to make further improvements to adjunct pay, job stability, their voice in campus issues and equity across campus. And while things aren’t perfect yet, they’re getting better.

“The good thing is we’re understanding better now how to bring (adjuncts) out of isolation,” Hedleston said.